Want to Help a Child Who is Grieving? Be Honest!

Children grieve in different ways than adults, but even infants grieve. Kids are often too young to understand euphimisms like “loss”. Angel Graham is a grief therapist for children at Pathstone Mental Health and part of Grief Network Niagara.  She says sometimes a child’s first experience may be a pet dying.  It may seem harsh but adults need to be direct and use real words like “our dog died” and explain he won’t be coming back so a child understands that death is permanent. November 18 is Children’s Grief Awareness Day.